PIONEER

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Latest news

Russia’s LNG shadow fleet grinds to halt following suspension of flag

A week after the Republic of Palau temporarily suspended the flag of three LNG carriers, Russia’s shadow fleet has ground to a halt, for now. Palau’s International Ship Registry pulled the registration of the 'Pioneer', 'Asya Energy', and 'Everest Energy' pending an investigation into their practice of deactivating or spoofing AIS signals while sailing to the sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 project. All shadow fleet vessels have remained idle in Russian or international waters for much of the past week. The 'Pioneer' had loaded cargo in the Russian Arctic on Aug 3 with potential losses approaching 7.5% of cargo a month later. The vessel transferred its cargo during a ship-to-ship to the 'New Energy' north of the Suez Canal. Both vessels have remained idle off the coast of Port Said since the STS. Following its flag being suspended, the 'Asya Energy' turned around in Norwegian waters and sailed for Kola Bay near Murmansk where she has remained since Au 27. Its Moss-type storage system limits losses to 0.15% a day, but they may still be approaching 3-4% more than three weeks after calling at Arctic LNG 2. The 'Everest Energy' headed for the thus far unused world’s largest floating storage barge 'Saam FSU' in the Ura Guba Bay. Transferring its cargo to the modern storage unit could help reduce boil-off rates. The 'North Sky' began offloading its cargo at the Yangkou LNG terminal over the weekend. The vessel loaded cargo from thus-far unsanctioned 'Yamal LNG' nearly four weeks ago but had remained idle off the coast of Yangkou, China for several days. The 'North Sky', together with three other newbuilds from the same order, the 'North Mountain', 'North Air' and 'North Way', was included in sanctions announced last week. While the vessels have not carried product from sanctioned Arctic LNG 2, they were originally intended for use with the project. Potential buyers receiving cargo from the 'North Sky' will likely face the risk of secondary sanctions.

Palau suspended registration of sanctioned tankers with links to Russian gas exports

On Aug 27, 2024, the Republic of Palau has temporarily suspended the registration of the 'Asya Energy', 'Everest Energy' and 'Pioneer', that were recently sanctioned by the US over links to Russian gas exports. The Palau International Ship Registry was investigating whether the vessels violated sanctions through deceptive practices. The LNG carriers were sanctioned by the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control on Aug 23. The sanctions imposed on seven LNG carriers linked to Russian gas exports from its newest plant, Arctic LNG 2, have been a fresh blow to Russia as it spent months developing what was believed to be a shadow fleet of tankers for natural gas in a similar way it did for transporting crude oil and products. Such vessels have opaque ownership, unknown insurers and deploy practices such as hiding their location by switching off or manipulating their AIS. The vessel sanctioning is an additional expansion by the US to target Russian energy exports after the US sanctioned the Arctic-based facility late lin 2023. Attempts to operationalize the Arctic LNG 2 project will continue to be met with a swift US government response.

Sanctioned tanker transferring Russian LNG to New Energy

The sanctioned 'Pioneer' appears to be transferring its Russian cargo to another ship in the Mediterranean Sea, a sign of the lengths to which Moscow is going to circumvent US actions. The LNG tanker was sanctioned by the US on Aug 23 and was anchored next to another vessel about 19 nautical miles northeast of Port Said. That was s an indication that it’s executing an open water ship-to-ship transfer, which is rare for natural gas. The recipient vessel is the 'New Energy', which isn’t subject to restrictions. The cargo is the first to load from Arctic LNG 2, Russia’s newest gas export plant, which was sanctioned by the US in 2023r. In response to the US actions, Moscow is developing a shadow fleet of LNG tankers in a similar way it did for transporting crude oil and products. The US upped the ante last week by imposing restrictions on seven LNG carriers linked to Russia, including the 'Pioneer' and Ocean Speedstar Solutions, the India-based manager of the ship. The New Energy has been managed by Plio Energy Cargo Shipping since June and was previously suspected to be part of the shadow fleet due to its opaque ownership. The India-based Plio Energy was incorporated on June 20. Once the transfer is finished, the 'New Energy' may head through the Suez Canal to Asia, where there could be willing buyers of the Russian gas. It’s common practice for vessels carrying sanctioned energy to hide their location by switching off or manipulating their AIS. The 'Everest Energy', another vessel sanctioned by the US on Aug 23, was moving away from the Arctic LNG 2 facility, indicating that the vessel picked up a shipment. The ship was faking its location in the Barents Sea until Aug 26. Report with photo: https://financialpost.com/pmn/business-pmn/tanker-carrying-sanctioned-russian-lng-attempting-ship-transfer